Turbine-casing joint



Aug. 8, 1939. J. H. DORAN TURBINE-CASING JOINT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept. 11, 1937 Fig.1.

Inventor: John H. Daren, b 1%, 6.

y 4 Hi Attorney.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor John H. Devan,

ttorney.

3, 1939- J. H. DORAN TURBINE-CASING JOINT Filed Sept. 11, 1937 y W 5. 9m

Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OF-FIC TURBINE-CASING JOINTYork Application September 11, 1937, Serial No. 183,506

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to elastic fluid turbine casings, morespecifically to the type of casings which comprises two casing halves orportions flanged together, although it is not limited 5 theretonecessarily. Modern elastic fluid turbines operatedfiat fluid pressuresof 700 pounds per square inch and more and temperatures of 1000 F. andabove are subject to considerable strains and stresses during operation.Hence, in

v the design of turbine casings, special attention must be paid securelyand safely to connect or fasten together the casing halves.

The general object of my invention is to provide an improvedconstruction and arrangement of casings and an improved method ofmaking,

assembling and dismantling them whereby several halves or portions ofsuch casing are rigidly and safely secured together.

For a consideration of what I believe to be :0 novel and my invention,attention is directed to the following description and the claimsappended thereto in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective :5 view of a turbinecasing, partly broken away, and embodying my invention; Figs. 2, 3, and4 show modifications of my invention and Fig. 5 is a sectional viewalong the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The casing shown in Fig. 1 comprises an upper to half l0 and a lowerhalf H engaging each other along a joint l2. In order rigidly to securethe two halves together I provide each of them near the joint l2 with aflange l3 and I4, respectively. These flanges may be formed in knownmanner 35 by casting or forging them together with the correspondingcasing halves or by welding them thereto. The flanges l3 and I4 engageeach other and are provided in accordance with my invention, withcircumferentially extending grooves 40 I5 for accommodating links orclamps l3, 8!.

In the present instance, these links are essentially double-T or Ishaped, each having a main or body portion IS, a lower transverseportion I! and an upper transverse portion 20. The main 45 or bodyportion l8 has an inner curved suriace conforming to the curvature ofthe-outer surfaces of the casing halvesand the flanges. The lowertransverse portions l9 bear against the lower end surfaces 2| of theflange H. Keys or washers 22 are inserted on opposite sides of the bodyportion l8 between the upper transverse portions and the upper end face23 of the flange l3. During assembly, the links or clamps l5, H areheated and shrunk onto the flanges l3, M to fasten them securelytogether. Dismantling is accomplished by first heating the links andthen removing the keys 22. Each key has a head 24 which is sufiicientlyspaced from the adjacent upper transverse portion 26 as indicated at 25,to permit insertion of a tool for removal of the key.

During manufacture of the flanged casing halves the flanges may first beformed solid and thereupon grooves 05 cut into the flanges or thegrooves may be formed initially by forming on each casing halfnear itsjoint or end face a plurality of projections 26, 2'5, 23. As theengagement between the sides of the body portions 98 with the adjacentsides of the projections 26, ill, 28 is not essential, subsequentmachining of the grooves may be omitted, it being sufiicient to machineonly the end faces 2i and 23 of the sepa-- rately formed projections 25,N, and 28.

The arrangement in Fig. 2 comprises an upper casing half 38, and a lowercasing half 86 formed with projections 32 and 33 respectively andsecured together by means including links or clamping members 35 andkeys While the circumferential length of the flanges l3 and it of thearrangement of Fig. l are alike, the circumferential length a of theprojection in the arrangement of Fig. 2 is considerably longer than thecircumferential length 27 of the projection 83 in order to facilitateassembly and disassembly of the structure.

The arrangement of Fig. 3 comprises an upper casing halt iii and a lowercasing half ll engaging the upper casing half along a joint 32. Eachcasing half near the joint is provided with a flange 63 and 613respectively. A plurality of vertically or cireumferentially extendinggrooves 35 are cut into the flanges extending from the lower face :36 ofthe flange i i to the upper face ll of thei'iange A horizontally orsubstantially axially extending groove it is cut into the flange itbetween the joint Q2 and the upper iace ill of said flange 3%, and asimilar horizontally extending groove is out into the flange ll. Finallyanother groove 5%) is formed between ad'- jacent grooves (it extendingvertically or circumieren'tially from the horizontal groove 59 to thehorizontal groove Q8. The two flanges or the projections forming themare rigidly secured together by long links hi and keys 52, and by shortlinks 53 and similar keys 54, located in the grooves 35 and 58respectively. As can be readily seen from the drawings the transverseportions oi the long and the short links overlap each other. Thhoverlapping arrangement permits the proments within a comparativelysmall space.

The arrangement in Figs. 4 and 5 includes an upper casing half and alower casing half 6| forming a joint 62. The casing halves near thejoint 62 are provided with flanges or projections 63 and 64respectively. Vertically extending grooves 65 are formed in the flanges63, 64 to accommodate shrinking members or links 66 for securing the twohalves together. The arrangement is such that the outer surfaces of thelink 66 and the flanges 63, 64 form together a plain vertical surface.Each link 66 has a main or body portion 61 whose width reduces graduallytowards transverse end portions 68 and 69. The outer surface of eachlink is-plain while its corresponding opposite surface 10 is curved toconform to the curvature of thecasing halves 60, iii. The transverseportions with the adjacent portions'of the casing half form grooves Hand." respec-- tively, permitting the insertion of a tool or toolsduring the dismantling of the structure, hence, special removable keysor washers are not required in this design, but may be used if founddesirable.

Having described the method of operation of my invention, together withthe apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodimentsthereof, I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is onlyillustrative andthat the invention may be carried out by other by means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates,-is:

1. An elastic fluid turbine casing having lower.

and upper casing halves with flanges and forming a joint, a plurality ofopen grooves in the flanges extending transversely to the joint, clampsfor shrinking the flanges together, said clamps having main portionsdisposed in the grooves and transengaging the end surfaces of theflanges, and means-to facilitate dismantling of' the clamps comprisingkeys disposed between the verse portions joint formed'in each flange, athird open groove formed between each pair of 'first grooves andextending parallel thereto between the second grooves, and clampingmeans having body portions disposed in the first and third grooves forshrinking the flanges together.

, 1 JOHN H. DORAN.

